Chapter 22

Lyra stumbled into the table from the force of the slap, causing a glass to fall to the ground and shatter. She covered her cheek with her hand as pain spread through her face and tears sprung in her eyes. She bit down on her trembling lip and turned her head to face Julian in disbelief. His face was a dark mask of anger as he looked at her like she was the person he hated the most in the world. She dropped her gaze to the ground, a heavy weight settling over her chest. He really must hate her so much. Had she really expected that he would take time to listen to her side of the story? From the moment they met, he never cared about that. She was evil and scheming in his eyes, and she was stupid to expect any kind of warmth or consideration from him. Something streaked through Julian, piercing through his cloud of anger and melting it to nothing, bringing him back to the present. He looked down at his hand that he just used to slap Lyra and found it shaking. Fuck. What have I done? His e